Conservation groups working to preserve Scotland’s game fishery sector has criticised the Scottish Government for prioritising the growth of industrial fish farming in Scotland, which it claims has introduced diseases that have devastated stocks of wild salmon and trout by as much as two thirds.

Salmon and Trout Conservation Scotland, which has been in existence since 1903 launched the attack after reporting the "unprecedented collapse" of a major salmon run in Argyll.

According to the STCS, the 2017 catch from the River Awe in the south-west Highlands is projected to be the lowest since records began. The body blames the declining count on "intensive" fish farming in the area, and the spread of sea lice at farms.

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The group said this year's count from the Awe has only been running at a third of the 2016 count, which was itself only just above the all-time low since records began in 1965.

The 2016 total was 807 fish, but STCS said the 2017 catch may "struggle to reach 400", with 30 weeks of the season already past.

The alleged damage is seen as a threat to a key traditional part of Scottish leisure and tourism, which according to VisitScotland, earns around £130m of tourism income for Scotland every year.

Roger Brook, chairman of the Argyll District Salmon Fishery Board, the statutory consultee for planning issues related to wild fisheries in the area, said rivers like the Awe were facing "a very precarious future", and called on the government to make changes.

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He said: "The Scottish government has promoted the continued expansion of the salmon aquaculture industry whilst refusing to implement adequate control on the siting of farms and the levels of sea lice on the farms.

"We call upon the Scottish government to insist that future farms are sited away from the probable migration routes. The worst existing farms, both in terms of location and lice control, should now be closed."

In reply, the government said the regulations balance growing aquaculture sustainably and protecting biodiversity.

MSPs are set to hold an inquiry into the industry in early 2018, after the rural economy committee studied a petition from Salmon and Trout Conservation Scotland (STCS) about protecting wild fish from sea lice breeding in salmon farms.

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They said juvenile salmon migrating from rivers in the south-west Highlands had to "run the gauntlet" close to lice-producing salmon farms the whole way up the west coast before reaching the open ocean.

STCS wants farms moved into closed containment tank systems to prevent the spread of parasites, saying only this could allow both farmed and wild fish to thrive.

Director Andrew Graham-Stewart said the numbers of mature west Highland sea trout had "collapsed" since the arrival of intensive fish farming, and said wild salmon numbers were also now in a decline which is "accelerating into a free fall".

Meanwhile Scotland's farmed salmon industry continues to grow, with exports rising by 17% by value last year. However, there have been persistent concerns about sea lice, which can spread at farms and potentially damage ecosystems.

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Efforts have been made to tackle the spread of lice at farms with "cleaner fish" such as wrasse, which attack and eat the parasites. Scottish Sea Farms said their use has been "transformational", with lice levels at a three-year low at the end of 2016.